Our Feral Cats

It was a sad day for a feral cat and us –

One of the feral cats I was feeding got pregnant. I named her Mandy. She had her babies in a shelter in my back yard. She got spooked by a cat down the street and moved her babies under my porch. I was happy she trusted me enough to keep her kittens in my yard. During the day, if I was doing things in the back yard, she would lay around and watch me.

One day I was near my back porch and heard scratching, I thought it was the mother cat. I crawled in and saw it was her kittens. The mother had put them in an unsafe spot and I was worried about their safety. I put the kittens in a blanket and put them in a trap. I got a second trap and set it next to the trap with the babies.

In about 15 minutes, the mother was in the 2nd trap. My wife and I drove the mother and kittens to the Montgomery County Animal Services & Adoption Center. The person who helped us, was happy to hear that we wanted the mother back after the kittens were weaned. We brought the mother and kittens to the M.C. Animal Svs & Adoption Center for two reasons. One, we wanted the kittens to be socialized so they could be found homes and two, we wanted the mother back because she had been living in our back yard and we were very fond of her. We were told that once the kittens were weaned, the mother would get fixed and they would call us to pick her up. Again, we were thanked many times for agreeing to take the mother back once the kittens were weaned.

The county called my wife at work and told her that Mandy was fixed and ready to go home. My wife spoke with Kathy on June 9th to find out if the mother was tested for feline HIV and did she get a flea treatment. My wife mentioned to Kathy that we were going to attempt to make Mandy an indoor cat. We were scheduled to pick up Mandy the next day, which was Sunday. Kathy asked if we could call her ahead of time to let her know we were coming.

I exchanged a bedroom door a screen door, so she could see our cats and know what was going on outside of the room. I put tables in front of two windows, so she could look outside and brought in a cat tree for her to climb on. Lastly, I was also going to sleep in the room, so she could get to know me again.

My wife called Sunday morning to say that we would be on our way. She was told to hold on, because the Manager wanted to talk to her. The Manager got on the phone and said that the mother had already been taken and released somewhere near our house. My wife and I were shocked. I was outraged, and my wife was in tears. Obviously, the county didn’t want us to give a feral cat a better life. She asked the manager if he lied to everyone he dealt with. He didn’t answer.

Right now, I don’t believe the mother was dropped off at our house. I have two cameras set up to monitor the cats. One is in the backyard and one is under my porch. If I don’t see the mother by the end of the week, then I have to assume she wasn’t released at my house.

For those of you who don’t like feral cats, you should also be bothered by the county’s decision not to give a feral cat a chance to be an indoor cat. I took the mother to the humane society specifically, so her babies could be socialized and adopted out.

Sorry about the length of this story, but I still can’t believe that Montgomery County would prefer a cat living outside versus inside. If anyone wants to voice their agreement with us please call 240-773-5665.

Well thank goodness I was wrong. Mandy is here. I just put some food out under the porch and outside and when I came in she was under the porch. And then went outside to eat. The outside photo is not very clear because I didn’t want to open the window and scare her.

I am so glad I was wrong it’s still doesn’t excuse what they did. They knew very well we were coming my wife had talked with Kathy many of times. Unfortunately we made the mistake of telling them we wanted to bring her inside.